Red (Barry&Caitlin One-Shots)
by Mero Bro
Summary: At one point during his hunt for a nearby hospital, her arms weakly circled his waist, muttering absently into his chest. Her unheard words vibrated against his skin, sending goosebumps down his arms. "Just hold on Cait," was all he could muster without his voice cracking. He ran faster.
1. unbreakable (1 out of 3)

"Caitlin!"

That was the only word that had torn from his throat in that horrifying split second moment. He had gone (so selfishly, so unguardedly) to scout the area, looking for the other half of his mask that had burned off of his suit, when he heard her bloodcurdling scream from off in the distance.

It was only once, a loud screech of surprise pain, but it was unmistakably, undoubtedly hers. In that moment he had panicked, his mind and body frozen in place, unable to budge a muscle to rush to her aid. A thought was seared into his mind, sending shivers down his back and word was stuck in his throat, choking him to tears.

The silence that had followed was the eery proof of emptiness.

And so he ran, ran as fast as he could, over to the hilltop where he had last left her standing. The mountainous terrain hurt the soles of his feet but he didn't care. His vision was a blur of red and yellow, the adrenaline pumping through his blood enough to send him dizzy. He didn't bother halting to a stop when he saw her shriveled body in the snow. He simply collapsed into the pool of red that was seeping from her abdomen, and brushed her dark curls away from her pale face. Hurriedly he struggled to pick her up, and hugging her close to his chest.

He made a run for it, towards the closest hospital he could see. His emblem was beeping, and Cisco and were yelling questions of concern into his earpiece. But he couldn't hear any of them, for he was too fixated on the slow and weak heartbeat that was pumping in her ribcage, a burning hope for his dying teammate.

No, he realized. She's not his teammate. She was his better side, his fuel for helping people, his water for the thirst he has for the impossible. Over the last 18 months she'd become much more than a simple 'teammate'. She'd become the better half of him, and now that her eyes were closed he wanted nothing more but for them to open. For her to smack his arm in a scolding manner, and yell at him for not being careful while her eyes would tell him a different story. They'd tell him that she can't bear to see him hurt. Her brown pupils would tell him that she wasn't strong enough to lose another man she loved to the dark abyss of the cruel world.

At one point during his hunt for a nearby hospital, her arms weakly circled his waist, muttering absently into his chest. Her unheard words vibrated against his skin, sending goosebumps down his arms.

"Just hold on Cait," was all he could muster without his voice cracking.

After nearly five minutes of searching and running he finally found a hospital just short of a mile from his house. He couldn't see an open Emergency Room entrance outside of the building, so with a grunt he made for the door. He cursed himself from not zapping the both of them out of the mountains before anything could've happened to her. He'd choose Caitlin's life over Cisco's fury about his suit any day.

He ran straight into the reception, ignoring all the people that immediately crowded around the the Flash, trying to see a glimpse of his face. He could physically feel the crowd taking videos and photos of the crimson speedster, posting it on internet platforms, and waiting for the upcoming wave of comments on their pictures. He ignored all of them.

"She's been injured," he yelled frantically. As soon as the women at the other end of the desk got over her shock, she paged the emergency crew into the room. Not a minute passed before a nurse was urging Barry to relax and rest Caitlin on the stretcher. He gently positioned her feeble body in a way where he was most positive it wouldn't hurt.

"How was she injured?" a male nurse questioned over the commotion. Barry winced as the nurse slid an IV tube into her arm.

"I - I don't know how," he stuttered, a pang of guilt prodding at his heart. "I wasn't there…" he was about to say more when the nurses started to cart Caitlin away, leaving him standing limply in the hallway.

It took him a long time to gain some sense and leave the hospital.

He knew that his friends at S.T.A.R. Labs were probably worried sick about them, but he didn't care the least bit. He ran out of the building and straight home, changing into a pair of plain grey sweater and sweatpants. He didn't bother to tell Cisco or that he was fine. Instead, he ran right back to the hospital and entered as though he'd just heard the news.

"What's going on? Where's Caitlin?" He yelled in feigned panic. The receptionist explained to him how the 'wondrous flash had brought her here' and how 'he was so amazing and fast as he rushed in with her in his arms' and how she thought that 'they may have a secret relationship'. He waved all of it away.

"Where is she?" he asked again, only to have the receptionist fall into awkward silence. Finally realizing that they were going nowhere with this conversation, he started walking down the corridor he remembered the nurses going through, turning left when they had. He was about to open the most promising door when someone grabbed his shoulders.

"Sir you can't pass this premises." he whipped around, and stared the man dead in the eye.

"I am _not _going to leave her." he growled, jerking his shoulder away. The man grabbed his arm once more.

"It's a family only area. Are you in her immediate family?" the man questioned.

"Yes…" the uncertainty in his voice was surely heard by the security guard.

"Sir this is not to be taken lightly. Are you in her immediate family?"

"Yes! I am - I'm her fiancé." he mentally face palmed. She had just overcome the loss of her fiancé for the second time not a week ago and there he was, pretending to be her fiancé. He felt as though he'd jabbed a fresh wound, although he quickly dismissed the thought of her having more than one gaping hole in her body.

"Still, you're not allowed to enter until the operation is over. Why don't you take seat, you seem pretty tired." the guard guided him towards the benches, where he immediately fell onto. He hadn't realized just how tired he'd gotten until now, and the only thing that seemed better than seeing Caitlin's eyes once again was sleep.

And so he closed his eyes, and asked for merely an hour of bliss before he had to return to the grief of reality.


	2. utter (2 out of 3)

Five agonizing days.

For five days he sat at her bedside, with no news on her condition whatsoever. It was as if the doctors were purposely ignoring him.

Once Cisco and pinpointed their location, it was quite quick of them to arrive. They swept in without so much as a word to the receptionist and frantically searched around for Barry, Cisco wheeling , until eventually they found him fast asleep on a bench. They sat around for a while before awakening Barry, and telling him to go home. Cisco tried to convince him that Caitlin was alright, that she'll be awake and well by the time he returned in the morning. He refused.

They came again the next day, and sat on the empty stools next to him with cups of steaming coffee in their hands. Although Barry was sitting on a chair, his entire upper body was sprawled on Caitlin's bed. His arms were crossed and his head made home between them at the edge of her arm, his eyes watching her wearily. They were bloodshot from all the tears he'd shed and nights he'd spent without a blink of sleep. Every once in while or Cisco would tilt their cup towards Barry, a silent plea to bring him back to himself again. He shook his head no.

Joe came to visit at on point. He can't remember when. Joe hadn't said anything as he engulfed him in a tight embrace, and for the first time since the incident occurred Barry had let himself cry. He wept in his father's shoulder as Joe told him it was alright. He knew it wasn't.

On the third day Eddie and Iris had pooled in. They propped their flower vase on the small table beside Caitlin's bedside. Eddie rubbed his shoulder in comfort as Iris sobbed softly next to him. They muttered words of condolence. He glanced up at Eddie, and he could see the unmistakable tears that his eyes refused to shed. He turned his gaze back to Caitlin.

On the fourth night she stirred for the first time. He was dozing off to sleep when her hand rest upon his. He jerked up hopefully, and awaited for her to open those deliciously colored eyes. She didn't.

As the days poured by her condition seemed to have minimum development while his dropped dangerously. He only left for the bathroom. He unwillingly ate. He barely slept.

"She wouldn't want you to be like this," they told him. "She would want you to take care of yourself."

On the eve of the fifth night she woke him shivering. It startled him out of his mind when her hand suddenly lay a deathly grip upon his own. He jerked up to see her lips quivering, and her hand trembling on top of his own. He yelled for the nurses, not daring to leave her side. Its was rare occasions like these where he was afraid his heart would jump out of his ribcage and tumble towards her own.

The nurses ran in to see the commotion, finding the girl completely doused in sweat and stirring around uncomfortably and the boy frantically stroking her hand with a wild look in his eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" He yelled in panic. "Do something! What's happening to her?"

Upon hearing his voice the nurses were jolted to reality and as Barry had said, rushed around her IV tubes to reach her. They did a load actions that Barry couldn't process and didn't understand. He tried hard to hold back a sob.

Finally, on the night of the sixth day she woke. Barry was sleeping on the stool at the side of her bed, and her hand, she realized, was warm and safe under his. She had no energy to move it, and although she wouldn't admit it to herself, she didn't want to. She studied his face, the enormous bags under his eyes, his coffee stained pants, his messed up hair, and his stubble. How long had he been sitting there, awaiting her consciousness?

"Oh Barry," she croaked, wincing at the dryness of her throat.

He must've been a light sleeper because, boy, did he jump up at her soft voice.

His eyes wandered around a bit before finding hers. His pupils dilated, and his pulse quickened. Her brown eyes were looking at him with the same worry once again.

He could utter only one name. "Caitlin,"


	3. cry (3 out of 3)

He breathed only one name. "Caitlin,"

Tears immediately pooled in her eyes at the pain he whispered her name with. The agony his eyes reflected as he gazed deeply into hers. The tears that he shed so effortlessly at the sight of her eyes.

His hand reached to her cheek, trembling and shaking. His fingers stroked her skin, delighted to feel it warm once again.

"Oh," his voice cracked. "Oh, Caitlin,"

She nodded her head slightly before nudging over in the uncomfortable hospital bed and patting lightly to the empty space next to her.

"Please," she pleaded, her eyes exposing more than enough emotion, anything and everything more then what Caitlin Snow has ever revealed. In all that she is she pleaded. Tiredly yet enthusiastically, dragging every move, Barry slid on next to her.

"It was so dark," she choked. "I was so scared I wouldn't wake up." Barry rest his head on hers. "But I heard you, you know. I heard everything, and I felt everything. I was a prisoner trapped within my own body." she sighed shakily. "I've read about coma, and I've helped comatose patients like yourself but I've never actually _been _in a coma."

"Caitlin," he interrupted.

His hand slightly brushed her arm, which had been exposed to the cool November air all throughout the night. A subtle shiver shook through her, and being completely doused in exhaustion, sent her head swimming in circles and her gut tangled and tripping on itself. His touch was so soft, as though it was calling her for a long luscious sleep.

"What?" She inquired. "What is it?" They were a tangled mass of blankets yet her hand had no problem whatsoever finding a way to wrangle it's way around his arm.

"I can't sleep, I won't." Barry whispered. Judging from the moon high up amongst the midnight clouds, she imagined it was probably around one or two, in the wee hours of morning.

"Why?" She whispered, her words echoing through the eery stillness of the room.

After a moments beat of a pause, he spoke up once again.

"Never mind." he said, his voice distant. His glossy eyes were shimmering underneath the moonlight.

"Barry, look at me."

When he remained silent, she gently touched his jaw to divert his attention to herself.

"What's bothering you?"

"The fact that you were in a coma, Caitlin." he answered harshly, avoiding her eyes. "You were at the verge of death and I wasn't there to help you. I am your partner, Caitlin, your _friend_. I wasn't there to help you, to _save _you. How do you think that makes me feel?"

His words cracked the dam that was holding her tears away. For once, Caitlin Snow didn't know what to say, or do.

"Barry, you can't blame yourself. I wasn't careful -"

"No! It isn't about you being careful or not. I shouldn't have left you there alone when you had no idea which way I had went in. I left you there, defenseless and awaiting." Barry fought back tears. "This is much more then simply you not being careful. _I let you down_."

Caitlin understood his pain all too well. She could've done something about Ronnie death (or whatever you call what happened to him, either way, she could've prevented it). She wanted, ever so desperately to share the burden upon his shoulders. She couldn't bare to see him hauling it all alone.

With trembling hands she cupped his face in hers, and gently turned it towards herself.

"Don't do this to yourself." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Please,"

When his face fell almost limp with grief in her hands, she lay a soft kiss on his nose and wiped away a tear that was trailing down his crimson cheek.

"I am here," she guided his hand to her heart. "And I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."

He cracked the faintest ghost of a grin.

"I wouldn't let you."

And so let the gentle beating of her heart be a lullaby to lure him to a deep and comfortable slumber, engulfed in the feelings that stirred inside his own heart.

~ fin


	4. flow (apartment au)

"You sure this apartment is big enough? If you like you can stay at my house for another week while we look for a place more…suiting," Cisco chuckled as he set down the last box on the floor.

"Nah, I'll manage."

Right as Barry patted his friend on the back in thanks, they heard a loud bang followed by a string of shouting from across the hall. Cisco was startled to say the least, and Barry was irritated that his first day in a new apartment complex was interrupted by such a scene. They turned around to see the commotion and from what the semi-open door revealed, it was the brunette girl that lived across from him, shouting angrily and teary eyed at a man he assumed was her significant other. They seemed to be brewing up quite the dispute, shouting and pointing accusingly at one another. Before either Cisco or Barry could step up to close the door, the duo said their final words and the man stomped angrily away.

Later that night, Barry could still hear the muffled crying of his brunette and beautiful neighbor, weeping about a lost love. From what it had sounded like, it must've been a long-term relationship, because to Barry, it was like a part of her heart had torn off along with this man's hurtful words.

He tried not to let it get to him, but there was just something about her cries that gave him the need to repair her, to fix her, to let her know that he is there for her. But how could he do that? They had only just met a week ago, when he was checking out the apartment.

His thoughts were interrupted by a door creaking open, and two pairs of feet shuffling around. Giggling and talking were followed by a sudden silence, which was then replaced with struggle.

The sound was unmistakably coming from the girl's house, and he was shocked to say that when he opened his door slight enough to see the chaos, was greeted with the disgusting view of a tall man forcing himself onto his petite neighbor. He leaned down with a forceful kiss as his neighbor pulled away, attempting to shuffle back into her apartment. But she was too small to stop the filthy guy from running his hands up and down her waist, quite lustfully, and grabbing her arms fiercely when she tried to push him away. He saw the pools forming in her eyes and it cracked something within him.

Barry was about to regretfully turn away when he saw the man's hands roam lower than her waist, trailing down lower and lower until it reached her -

"HEY!"

The man broke the kiss to spin around, obviously startled by the sudden sharp voice in the midst of the night.

"What are you doing? She obviously doesn't want to go there, so let her be!" He yelled, now fully standing in the hallway. The man snorted menacingly and glared at him with dark eyes.

"What are you gonna do pal? Just keep walking. Nothing to see here." He turned back to his neighbor and as he was leaning down, Barry walked over to his side, yanked his shoulder back, and brought his fist hard on his nose. He wasn't sure, but he may have heard a crack.

"What the hell man?" the man yelled, stumbling back and landing hard on the wall behind him. Blooded rushed out of his nostril as he tried to clog it.

But Barry wasn't finished yet. He grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him high on the wall. Although he may look scruffy, he definitely wasn't. All those days at the gym had finally payed off, and he was about to lose focus patting himself on the back.

"Are you gonna touch her again?" He asked, his voice dangerously deep.

"I - I don't -"

Barry harshly slammed him on the wall. "Are you going to lay a hand on her again?" He shouted. He was positive at least three neighbors were up and awake from his hoarse shouting.

"No! No! I - no! I won't!" The man held up his hands and Barry let him go, dropping him on the ground. The man stood up shakily and ran towards the elevator, pushing the buttons as hard and fast as he can. He skipped over to his neighbor, whom he didn't realize was now sitting on the floor and weeping and shaking. Her heartbroken sobs rattled his heart and he gently bent down, and picked her up.

He walked inside her apartment, a very minimalistic yet cute complex, and set her down on the sofa. He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and tucked it gently behind her ear.

"Are you alright?" he asked, gently and quietly. She nodded half-heartedly. "Do you want anything? Anything at all?"

"No," she spoke quietly. "Just comfort."

His heart broke as he embraced her in his long arms, encasing her in warmth and the feeling of safety. They stayed like that for a long while, her crying and him worrying, until she fell asleep to the strong scent of pine and cinnamon emitting from his sweater.

He didn't want her to be uncomfortable so he took her to her bedroom, and set her gently down. There wasn't anything else left to do but to tuck her in and leave, hoping for the best in her future.

A future he hopped he could be the best in.


End file.
